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Senator Oberweis: Funding reform gives more state money to local schools

6/22/2017

Schools across the 25th Senate District will receive more money from the state, under a compromise proposal that will overhaul Illinois’ current broken education funding formula, according to Senator Jim Oberweis.

Data provided by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) shows unparalleled gains for schools across the state.

“Our suburban schools have traditionally relied heavily on local property taxes for the bulk of their funding, and education reform plans in recent years would have placed an even heavier burden on local property taxpayers. Attempts at education funding reform have long been politicized, shifting resources from some school districts at the expense of others,” Senator Oberweis said. “We did not support any such plans that take already scant state resources from our students to prop up schools in other regions of Illinois.”

Senate Bill 1124 (Senate Floor Amendment 3) relies on an evidence-based model that provides for low-income students while ensuring that all 852 school districts across the state receive more state funding than they would under any other education proposal being considered.

Some of the biggest area gains include West Chicago School District 33, Plano Community Unit School District 88, Aurora West Unit School District 129, School District 46, and Oswego Community Unit School District 308, which each would receive at least $500 or more in additional state funding per student.

Senate Bill 1124 has many bipartisan components but it differs from other reform plans, like Senate Bill 1, in the way it treats Chicago Public Schools. Whereas Senate Bill 1 funnels hundreds of millions of dollars toward just the one district, Senate Bill 1124 treats all districts equally and rejects the cycle of Chicago Public Schools bailouts.

“Illinois has a history of sending a disproportionate amount of our tax dollars to a broken Chicago Public Schools system,” Senator Oberweis said. “Senate Bill 1124 ensures all districts are treated equally under the same system, putting an end to special deals for Chicago Public Schools.”